Golden St. at Charlotte

Time: 6 PM CT (NBA LP)

Spread: GSW -8.5

Total: 232.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

GSW

The Golden State Warriors have lost two of its last three, but it still sits atop the Western Conference standings and is the prohibitive favorite in the West with the return of DeMarcus Cousins to round out its starting lineup with five All-Stars.

Cousins returned Jan 18 against the L.A. Clippers and scored 14 points in his debut on 5 of 11 shooting. He is still facing minutes restrictions, but that is expected after tearing an ACL and rehabbing for the better part of 12 months. Cousins eventually should give the Warriors a needed interior presence on both ends of the court. While he has been maligned over his career for his attitude and behavior, perhaps being on a true winning team will bring some sort of Renaissance for the center. Cousins has averaged 21.5 points and 11 rebounds over his 10-year NBA career and is widely regarded as one of the most skilled and best stretch-5s in the business. Adding a weapon like that to Golden State should only transform the Warriors into a more unbeatable team as he rounds into shape.

It certainly should strike a little fear into teams to imagine what this team can do with a healthy roster. Stephen Curry is turning in an MVP caliber season with his 29.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, and Kevin Durant is still the most efficient scorer in the league. Thompson can get as hot as anyone in the Association, and Draymond Green’s versatility—hopefully— will tie it all together, as he is one of the best high post passers in the league.

There is a cushion, a warning, that this could implode due to chemistry issues, and certainly the forerunners of that were already seen when Green and Durant exchanged (insults) words, but the Warriors — on paper— should be relatively unstoppable. If it does not transfer to the court, that would be tragic, though the rest of the league is basically praying for that implausible friction to actually occur.

CHA

The Charlotte Hornets have hit something of a real wall in its improvement. Despite Kemba Walker playing like an absolute monster and maximizing every bit of his potential, the team still sits three games below .500 and is searching for answers to try to get more out of a roster that really seems to be all about Walker.

For starters, Malik Monk has proven to be mostly a disappointment. While he is not short on highlights, he is short on minutes and production. In his second season, he is seeing just 19 minutes as night and tallying 10.7 points per game while shooting abysmal percentages from the floor (39 percent field goal, 33 percent three). Jeremy Lamb has proven to be a more reliable 2-guard, but his upside is a bit more limited than Monk’s (supposedly) and neither has proven to be a solid No. 2 option for a team, nor a great complement to Walker’s talents at the 1-spot.

Kemba has averaged 25 points, four rebounds and nearly six assists per game, but the Hornets are not getting enough from a number of declining veterans (Nicolas Batum, Tony Parker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) and the rotation is substantially weaker than the top teams in the Eastern Conference, even.

ATS TRENDS C/o COVERS: